Adjustable arch support



April 1933- J.Vc. HOWELL 1,904,789

ADJUSTABLE ARCH SUPPORT Filed 001.. 28, 1931 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 18, 1 933v Josnrii a; newline, non r nan, NEW smsn? a Application fl ed ctober 26, eai sea-mi no; 571,236,

vMy invention relates to'improvements adjustable arch supports; and" it. consists; 1n the constructions, combinations and arrange- Inents herein described and claimed. I h [Che present invention has for-its main object -the provision of an adjustableaarchsnp port where the weakening of the muscles controlling the metatarsal bones is concerned,

, and to provide ac'orrective adjustable support which Fconforms 'toithe' natural concave shape of "the foot immediately beneath 'the,

metatarsal bones.

A further object of the inventionfi t provide a support which is made up virtually of: sections, eachsection being yieldable tofa certain extent so as to give a'cushioning efiect as distinguishedfrom a perfectly rigid suport. i J' P A further object is to provide'ineanswhereby the" arch support may (not i only be ad'- justed in a, vertical direction; but may be adjusted longitudinall in-a direction parallel to a line extending om the'heel to the toe.

A further object is to provide means whererzs 'by the arch support maybe adjusted angularly with respect toja; line extendi'nglfrem 'the'heel tothetoe. I Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed outlin the appendedclaims My inventionis illustratedyin' the accompanying drawing forming part of this appli- :pation,inwhich: 1

partly in section. a Figure 2' is a sectional view through the arch support and a portion of theshoe. 7 Figure?) is a plan 'view of themetalidijsk which constitutes the arch support proper. Figure l is a perspective view of a plate which issecured to the disk; and; Figure 5 is a sectionalong theg'line 5 5 'ofFig.2'.

plate 1 which is countersunk in the inner sole '2 of the shoe 3r This plate provided'with an integral cylindricalextension 4' which extends toward the bottom 'ofthe outer'sole'.

theoutersole'8 and throughwhich the head of-the screw 5 extends. I

Figural is eplan View o e aiei' suppoe applied h se 'she e In carrying out my invention I providea thereof may be readily understood! The screw having ahead 5,2111 integral flange 6 l and athreaded portion 7 is disposed'in .a

recess madein the outer sole 8,the* threaded A portion extending within the shoe as shown in the drawing; The plate 1 is fastened by 555 meansof rivets such as that shown at 9,=to] -a,ni-oute r"'plate 10 which'is countersunk in The arc-h support proper consists prefer 'erably' of "a disk of spring metal which I have indicated in general at A. Itis of ovate shape, and as will be 'seen' froni Fig. 2, has

a thickened central portion tapering toward a the edges; The disk bears aseries of holes 85 V 3 ll-'which'are arranged symmetrically for apurpose hereinafter: explained. "Extending inwardly fromthe edges ofthediskl areslots 12;which divide 'thejdiskinto a series of peripher'al "segments1f3: The disk isconve'xeon it its'upper'side 'a'nd concave on thelowerside'. "Fig.,4"I have shown a plate-14 having three studs or pins leprojecting frfomone face. thereof, the Edisk" being provided? with e openings 16. 'An integra1 cylindricalexten 'sio'n 17=is borne 'by'the plate l l'andthis-"extension is provided on one side thereof with a series of'grooves 18 As will beseenfrom Fig. the cylindrical memberd has keyways-19 which are arranged to registerwith the grooves 18 in the member 17 A key 20 l is provided for holding the cylindricalmember-17 in'adjusted position 'withrespectto 1 the cylindricalmember 4;-

The pins '15 of the plate14 the'lo'ngitudinal axis; as shown in Fig. 3'."

f --The disk A maybe adjusted angularly in eitherdirection by placingth'e key QOfinOne of the keyways 19 and then turning the cyliny drical member' li so thatone of thegrooves 18 is in alineinent with the key. ow when the screw 5 is turned it .will raise'orlower the arch support, the key 20 sIidinginLthe groove 18 inwhich itis disposed.

From {the foregoing description lof the variou'si-jparts of g the device. the operation I are arranged to entencorresponding openings 11in the-disk 1 1 35 andiit will beap'pare 'ntthat the diskfean beadjus'ted'to four difiere'n't positiolsflalong '13 is fastened to the latter by means of riv-r ets 22 which; pass through openings 23 in the disk The plate let is secured to the disk '13 by: rivets passed through.alinedopenings' 16 and 11. The vertical adjustmentisma de W Screw driver ppl e totheserj w Mi one can tell when the pressure is "properly applied by the feeling. Now it maybe that the disk is not located in exactly the right. place,

H H V n W diskrrelatively to'saidplates. described, and then riveted in its shifted and if so, it may be shiftedlongitudinallyas position. Y

Normally, the disk 13 isiplaced in' the positionshown'in the drawing, i. e.,--with the broader end toward the toes and the narrow end toward the heel. This is the position in which the pressure tends to bring' backzthe foot to normal, Now it may happen that would be desirable to shift thevposition of the disk angularly with respect to-the line from the'heel to the toe, and this may be; done as described by turning the screw so as; to

run the threaded cylindrical member- 17 off from the screw, then turning it to the proper position and inserting thevend of. the cylindrical member 17 so that oneof the. grooves ,will' conform with the key 20. The screw 5 maybe then screwed up so as to bring the I support to the properposition,

The division of the disk 13 into peripheral segments gives a flexibility and; cushioning effect to this arch support whichi-itwould. not otherwise have, and adds greatly to the comfortexperienced by the wearer. y

It will, be observed that in this construction the sole of the shoe acts as;a founda tion and that the adjusting members of the V arch support are builtinto and securely fas:

tened to the sole in a waterproof manner,

thereby becoming virtually a part of the sole and the solid foundation for adjustments of thearch. r I V In addition to the adjustments mentioned above vthere'is another adjustment towhich I desire to call particular, attention. It will be'noted from Fig. 3 that theopenings 11 are parallel rows, each row. having-its-opem ings spaced, at equal distances corresponding tothe distances between the studs or pins 15'.

The disk A may be shiftedlaterally so? that in the event that it, is desirable to move the archsupport slightly to one side or theother,

, it can be done by placing certain of the openings of one of the adjacent parallel rowsove the studsin assembling the device;

Iclaim: V v 1. The combination with a'shoe orsimilar article, of an arch support comprising a pair of, spaced-apart plates, means for securing said spaced-apart plates to the sole ofthe shoe,

ascrew extending-through one of saidaplates',

and a disk of ovate shape having a threaded cylindrical portion arranged to be engaged by the threads of the screw for moving the V cylindrical portion arranged to be engaged the threads of the screw for moving the 3.- The combination witha shoe or similar particle, of an archsupport comprising a 'pair of --spaced-apart*plates, means for. secur ng said-:spac'ed-apart plates -:.to the; sole of the shoe, a screw extending through one of said platesnand a 'diskof ovate shape havingan upperaconvexysurface andv being provided with aplurality of independently'flexible sec tions said disk. having-.ia.. threaded ey1indrical po'rtion'on one sidethereof arranged to beengaged by the thread-of, the screw for movingthedisk relatively to-said' plates.

4E. The combination withi-a shoe or-simil'ar article, of an arch; support comprising a pair of spaced-apart plates; means for securing said spacd-apart I plates to; the sole of the shoe, a. screw extending through one of said plates, a disk ofovate shape 'ha'vingmaconvex surface on the upper side thereof, said. disk being provided with spaced apartf slots extending-inwardly from the edge thereof, and

an integralithreaded'cylindrical portion disposed onone side ofthed'i'sk arranged to be engaged by the threads of the screw for moving-thedisk relativelysto:saidplates.

The combination with a shoe-or sii'nilarf article, of an arch support comprising a pair of spaced apart plates, means lfor securing saidrspaced-apartplatesto thesole of a shoe, a screw "extending throughone'of said plates, and a disk-of 'ovate shape having in-dependently flexible sections and being provided with a threaded cylindrical portion arranged .to be engaged. by the. threads. ofjthe screw for moving the disk relativelyto said-plates,

' the-broader part of the disk being disposed to normally face the toe or the, sh'oeand the smaller part of the disk facing the heel of the shoe; r

6. In an. a disk 2' equidistant openlngs in linea-rl alinement, a plate for supporting the disk having I studs arranged to enter correspondingf openings in the disk, the number of openings-exceeding the number of studsgthereby permitting a of spaced apart' plates, means for securing said spaced .japart; plates in the solev of.v the linear adjustment of thedisk with te t i 7125 shoe, one of said plates having an integral hollow cylindrical extension provided with a keyway, a disk, a plate for supporting the disk, said plate having a threaded oylindri cal extension provided with a plurality of keyways and arranged to slide in the first named hollow cylindrical extension, a key adapted to enter any of the keyways, and a screw arranged to extend through one of said plates and having a threaded connection with the threaded cylindrical extension on the plate. i a V 8. In an arch support, a disk having a plurality of parallel rows of equi-distantopem' ings, a plate for supporting the disk having studs arranged to enter corresponding openings in the parallel rows,'thereby permitting a lateral adjustment of the disk with respect to the plate. V

- JOSEPH HOWELL. 

